Almost Forever
by Neville Foreville
Summary: It had been all too short, but it had been almost forever.
1. Chapter 1

Sarah looked at the picture of colin Creevy in her lap. It seemed as though all of her tears had dried up. She could no longer cry.

Memories of Colin came flooding back. The first time they met, the first time he followed her around non-stop taking pictures of her with his Muggle camera. The first time he watched her play Quidditch for the Hufflepuff team, and the first time they kissed.

It was impossible for anyone to feel his loss more than her. After all, he had been the only man she had ever loved.

oooOoooOoooOooo

Sarah walked with the rest of the First-Years into the Great Hall. She looked around at the kids. There were hundreds of them crammed into four long tables.

Of all the people that stuck out to her in the Great Hall, one was holding a Muggle camera. He was snapping pictures of all of the incoming first years.

She smiled as they walked past him. He seemed especially happy to see them new students. Sarah watched him as long as she could before she turned to watch the sorting.

"Sarah Barns!" Professor McGonagall called into the crowd. Sarah took a deep breath and took a step toward Professor McGonagall.

She placed the Sorting Hat on Sarah's head. She could hear it's thoughts whispering in her ear.

_'Well, you have a kind heart... You're always wanting to help others, and you don't seek personal fame... That puts you in Hufflepuff!" _

The whole room erupted in applause. As she waked over to the Hufflepuff table, she saw the boy with the Muggle camera. He was called on a few minutes later. His name was Colin Creevy. Obviously because of the camera, he was a Muggle born, just like her!

Sarah crossed her fingers under the Hufflepuff table. "Gryffindor!" the hat cried. Sarah let out a breath. Sarah watched as Colin almost ran to the Gryffindor table. Sarah had to try very hard not to laugh when he tripped into Harry Potter's lap.

The whole Great Hall erupted into laughter into laughter until Professor Dumbledore raised a silent hand. As soon as the sorting was over, Sarah saw the food appear on the plates. She looked up and down the Hufflepuff table trying to see what everyone was doing. Some of the other students just started digging in. Some of the other first-years were watching the others, and some of the students picked up one thing, ate it, then moved on to the next thing.

As she ate, Sarah watched the Gryffindor table. In some ways, she wished she were braver so she too could be in Gryffindor.


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah grabbed her bag to head to Herbology. On her way to the green houses, she ran into Colin Creevy.

"Hi! I'm Colin Creevey. What's your name? You're in Hufflepuff, aren't you?" he asked quickly as they walked.

"Hi, Colin. I'm Sarah. I am a Hufflepuff. Are you going to Herbology with Hufflepuff first years?"

"Nice to meet you, Sarah! Yes, I'm... Don't move!" Colin said quickly.

"What? Is there something on me?!" Sarah cried.

"No! No, there is perfect lighting here and... You look... I mean... Can I take your picture?" Colin asked sheepishly.

"Fine. As long as it doesn't take too long."

Sarah posed with her face turned to the side and her dark eyes facing the sun. Colin snapped several pictures and told her that she was the best eleven-year-old model he had ever seen.

Sarah just laughed and started walking again. Colin bounded to catch up with her. As they walked into Herbology Professor Sprout had started explaining what they were doing.

As she explained, Sarah noticed Colin's eyes never leaving her face. She questioned him with a glance and their eyes locked.

She wanted to look away, but she couldn't force herself to break eye contact with him.

"Pair yourselves off. Hufflepuff's with Gryffindors. Make sure there are no inner house pairings," Professor Sprout explained loudly. Sarah and Colin's eyes never lost the other's gaze.

"Would you be my partner?" A scared looking Gryffindor girl asked her. Sarah forced her gaze away and turned to her.

"Yes," she answered slowly.

"Would you rather be partners with Colin?" The girl asked, noticing that she kept looking back at him.

"Yes, I mean, no. No, I'll be your partner for today. I'm Sarah. What's your name?"

"I'm Ginny," she said. "Just Ginny," she added quickly.

"Well, Ginny, why don't we get started with this plant thing."

They both laughed. She watched Ginny smile. It looked as though it had been a long time since she smiled last. That made Sarah wonder what could be going on.


	3. Chapter 3

'Dear Diary,' Sarah wrote in her Muggle diary that had Princess scrolled across the front. 'Colin followed me around all day. I have to admit, I didn't really mind. I know that I should tell him how I feel, but I'm not even sure how I feel. I know that he seems to enjoy my company, and I enjoy his, and I know that I don't even bother when he takes pictures of me all the time. I believe that I may...'

She looked up from her writing. She saw Kate looking at her through the gap in the curtains. Her face was as pale as a house elf.

"What is it Kate?" she asked.

Kate motioned with a shaking hand for Sarah to follow her. Sarah rose from the bed and followed Kate from the dorm to outside of the common room. She continued to walk down the hall to the doors of the infirmary. The girls halted in front of the doors.

"You go on in. You'll want to be alone when you see this."

'See what?' Sarah asked herself. She pushed open the doors. They creaked alarmingly loud, and Madame Pomfery bustled over. She took a deep breath and shooed all of the people away from the bed.

Nothing. Nothing in the whole world could have prepared her for what she saw.

On the bed lay Colin. He was rigid and cool to the touch.

"What's happened?" She asked in a raspy voice. It was as though all her breath had been knocked out of her by a large hammer.

"He has been petrified. That is all I am allowed to tell you."

Sarah sat by his bed looking at the boy in the bed and his beloved camera sitting on the stand next to the bed in shambles.

She felt a silent tear fall from her eye. "Will he die?" she choked.

Madame Pomfry almost laughed as she said, "I hope not!"

oooOoooOoooOoooOooo

After Sarah left the Hospital wing, she ran back to the common room in tears. Her best friend in the whole wizarding world was laying petrified in the Hospital Wing. She knew she would miss Colin so much.

"He won't die you know," a blonde-haired, starry eyed girl said softly behind Sarah one day while she was sitting by Colin's bedside.

Sarah turned at the sound of the choice. She offered a weak smile. "I know."

"I'm Luna Lovegood." The girl said in a fly-away voice.

"Hello, Luna. Are you a first year, too?"

Luna nodded quietly. "I know that he misses you, too."

"How can you tell? He's petrified!" Sarah wanted with all of her heart to yell at this girl. She talked as though she knew Colin's thoughts. 'Nobody knows what is going on inside his head. Nobody.' She took a deep breath and looked back at Luna.

"I have to get to my dorm. I'll talk to you later, Luna. Keep him company while I'm gone."

She knew that of all the people she to trust Colin to, Luna would not be boring.


	4. Chapter 4

Sarah opened her eyes to a bright morning. The sun shone through her curtains. She sat up in bed. She had just had the worst nightmare ever.

'No,' she thought. 'that wasn't a nightmare, that was real.' The incident with Ginny Weasley and the Chamber of Secrets had happened a few days ago, but Sarah was still having nightmares about it. Colin may have been her best friend, but Ginny was still one of the first people she ever met at Hogwarts.

oooOoooOoooOoooOooo

The Great Hall doors opened to reveal four students; Hermione Granger, Penelope Clearwater, Justin Flinch-Fletchy, and of course, Colin Creevey. As Colin came into the Great Hall, Sarah stood quickly from the Hufflepuff table.

She almost knocked several people over as she ran to greet him. As she neared him, he ran to her as well. They hugged passionately.

"I've missed you, too. It seems as though I've been asleep for so long, and although I know that I didn't think or dream, I can swear that I did. They were all about you." He blushed softly at what he had just admitted.

Sarah knew that she shouldn't feel this way, but she did. She couldn't help but to feel as though she and Colin were connected by something much more than friendship.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sarah sat up in bed with the birds chirping around her. A perfect day for Quidditch.

Sarah readied herself quickly for the day. First, she threw on her Quidditch pants, quickly followed by her Hufflepuff yellow and black sweater. After that, she ran a brush through her silky black hair; she threw it up in a ponytail with a yellow hair-tie. Sarah looked at herself in a mirror.

'Well,' she thought. 'It doesn't look too bad. Oh well, nobody's really going to be there to care where I look like on the pitch.'

After she was ready, she bounded down the stairs and out of the common room to the Great Hall. As she entered, she was met by Colin with his camera that his dad bought him three years ago to replace the one that broke.

"Good morning, Sarah," he said softly. That was one of the many things that Sarha loved about Colin. He was always there to comfort her and tell her, in little ways, how much he loved her.

"Good morning, Colin."

"Good day for Quidditch, right?" Colin asked, taking her hand. This was the way that mornings were. They would meet at the beginning of the day in the Great Hall, and Colin would walk her to the Hufflepuff table, then he would walk to the other side of the Great Hall to the Gryffindor table.

"Yeah, it should be a good day for Quidditch. I just hope that I don't have butterfingers handling the Quaffle today." Sarah laughed.

"Don't worry," Colin said with a swift kiss on the cheek.

He left her at the table and started walking to the other side of the room.

oooOoooOoooOoooOooo

"That went well," Sarah said with much sarcasm to Colin.

"You were fine. You still beat Ravenclaw."

"I know, I just wish we could have played better."

"I thought you were great."

They walked along the corridor together in silence.

"Sarah, how would you like to help fight against Voldemort?" Colin said in a hushed voice. She had no idea how he went from talking about Quidditch to talking about defeating the Dark Lord.

"Of course I want to fight... but Colin? We are only 4th years. How?"

"We are supposed to meet Harry in the Hogshead. He'll explain when we get there. You want to go?"

"Of course."

"Good. I can't imagine fighting without you."

Sarah smiled. They continued to walk until they stood before the portrait. "See you in Hogsmead tomorrow," Sarah said as she turned to the barrels, tapped the password and entered the Hufflepuff common room, leaving Colin Creevy standing behind her, on the other side of the door.

oooOoooOoooOoooOooo

Sarah sat perfectly still as Harry explained what it had been like to see Voldemort return. She cringed when he said his name. Colin reached over and took her hand. She looked over at him and smiled.

As Hermione held out the paper and placed it on the table, the students formed a line. Sarah and Colin rose to sign the paper.

Sarah Barns

was scrolled across the page, and right after it,

Colin Creevy

oooOoooOoooOoooOooo

Sarah watched as all of the students filed out of the Hogshead back room.

She turned to Colin. "Do you really think we will make a difference? I mean, we are just kids."

"I hope so. We need to take a stand now, and we need to let him know that we aren't going to be silenced by him, or Umbridge. We need to be in charge if none of the adults will."

"Maybe, we will be the ones to make the difference," Sarah said thoughtfully.

She and Colin continued down the hall to the street of Hogsmead. They continued their date, but the sourness of the thought of Voldemort wouldn't leave her mouth.


	6. Chapter 6

Sarah looked around the Quidditch pitch after a Dumbledore's army meeting one rainy afternoon. Professor Umbridge had just ordered that every student would be questioned.

Sarah drew a harsh breath of the brisk air. Flying had always been able to calm her nerves. She grabbed her Nimbus 2000 from her locker in the Hufflepuff Quidditch locker room. She quickly changed out of her uniform into her muddy Muggle clothes that she kept in there for emergencies like this.

As Sarah emerged onto the pitch with her broom in one hand and the quaffle in the other, her imagination took flight, along with her spirits.

She imagined crowded stands with all of them cheering for the Holly-Head Harpies. Gwenog Jones would come out onto the pitch followed by her team. Ginny Weasley, Sarah Barns, and Gwenog Jones would all be the chasers.

Sarah walked to the center of the pitch. She mounted her broom while still clutching the quaffle in her hands. She flew higher and higher then dropped into a dive. She dove at a great speed, then broke out of the dive and flew to the goal post. She threw the quaffle through and quickly flew to the other side to catch it.

Sarah threw the quaffle to the ground, and started trick flying. She would do flips, turns, loop-de-loops and any other trick flying she could think of, the wind roaring in her ears.

All of a sudden, she heard cheering. At first, she thought it was her imagination, but as she listened more intently, she heard it was only one voice; his voice.

Sarah leaned forward slightly and touched down on the ground. As she landed. Colin came running out of the stands to the pitch. He was still clapping.

"That was bloody amazing!" Colin screamed to her. Her already wide smile grew even wider.

Sarah ran to him once she touched down. She ran into his arms, to feel her fingers run through his blonde curls. That is what she longed for, but never imagined that the time in which she had to doe it was all too short.

She hugged him tightly. No one had ever seen her fly like that before. Now that she thought about it, Colin was most likely the only one that she would want to know about her flying habits. Since she couldn't fly at home because she was a Muggle, she had to fly as much as posible while at Hogwarts.

"You really think it was a good flight?" she asked Colin; eyes sparkling.

He nodded. "You are amazing! I love you so much!" Colin hugged her tightly and laid a light kiss on the top of her head. Sarah smiled into his arms. He loved her so much, and she loved him more.


	7. Chapter 7

The news of Dumbledore's death his Sarah hard. All of the students and teachers were standing in the court yard by Dumbledore's fallen body. Coiling put an arm around Sarah's shaking shoulders. As the students filed back into the castle to let the teachers deal with the fallen hero, Colin pulled Sarah off from the crowd.

"Sarah, I know that I love you, and now, I don't know what will happen now that Dumbledore's gone, but ... Here goes," Colin whispered to her.

He leaned forward and kissed Sarah. He kissed her full on the lips. It was the most lovely experience that she had ever had. When the broke apart, she leaned into Colin. "You know I love you, right?" she whispered.

Colin nodded. He smiled as he looked her in the eye. Her normally bright eyes seemed dark and sad. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

"I know."


	8. Chapter 8

"No!" She sobbed. Sarah's hands flew to her heart. She felt it be pulled out of her chest as she watched Neville Longbottom and Oliver Wood carry Colin's lifeless body into the Great Hall.

She broke into such thick tears that she could barely see through them.

Hastily, Sarah rose from her seat and ran to Colin's side. She felt for a heart beat, but there was none.

The tears started anew. She cried and cried holding his hand and willing him to open his sea-blue eyes and look at her. She cried until her eyes dried and cried some more.

He was gone. The boy she had trusted with all of her secrets and all of her fantasies. The boy that she loved with all of her heart and then some.

Colin. His name echoed through every ember of her very being. She could think about nothing other than this sixteen year old boy that lay before her.

"I really am sorry," Neville whispered to her as he left to comfort people and find more bodies to remember and cherish their memories.

Sarah took a deep breath and looked over Colin again. His blonde curls darkened by dirt, soot, and even blood. His skin was dirty and flecked with pieces of shattered glass. His Gryffindor robes had been torn and shredded. He looked as though he had just been through the worst place in the world.

In fact, he had been, but unfortunately, he had not bade it back in one piece. He had lost part of him in that place. He had lost the most important part of himself, he had lost him.

She looked down at him one more time. This time she kissed him on the lips and said, "Goodbye for now, Colin. This isn't the end, I promise."

As she rose to leave, she had almost heard him say, "I know."


	9. Chapter 9

Sarah looked around the room with her fading eyes. She was leaving this world, and she knew it.

She sat still as the nurse brushed her hair gently. Sarah caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her once raven-black hair was now grey. Her once vibrant eyes now had a permanent sadness in them. They had ever since she was sixteen.

Sarah had lived a full life, but she had never married, never had children, and never had the joy of watching her children go off to Hogwarts and be sorted. Since Colin had died, she had followed her dreams, but there was an emptiness that could never be filled with anything but Colin and his love for her.

They had been together for a short while, but it had been almost forever. Sarah's breaths became more shallow. As she slipped out of conscienceless, she saw a shinning gate.

oooOoooOoooOoooOooo

In front of that gate was a curly haired boy. He looked as though he was only sixteen and when she looked down at herself, she was sixteen as well.

When she looked back to the boy, she saw the sea-blue eyes that she had grown to love.

"Colin?" She whispered. Even her voice sounded as it had when she was a sixth year.

He reached out and took her hand. He pulled her towards him.

"Welcome home," he whispered in her hear as he pulled her in for a long hug.

They broke apart and entered a land filled with happiness and love. There would be no more pain, and no more tears. She was home, and this time, it was forever. Forever his.


End file.
